GBDH wins motion to add approximately 50,000 additional California tenants to their class action challenge to Equity Residential’s excessive late fees

October 25, 2021

On October 25, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (Judge Jeffrey White, presiding) in Munguia-Brown v. Equity Residential granted the plaintiffs’ motion to extend by approximately five years the class period covered by their long-running challenge to the fee that Equity Residential charges its California tenants for late payment of rent.  The Court previously certified a statewide class of about 140,000 California tenants who had been charged the late fee.  The expansion of the class period will allow more than 48,000 additional California tenants to join the case as class members.  In the same order, the Court also allowed plaintiffs to add an additional named plaintiff and class representative with injunctive relief claims that could force Equity to change its late fee, dismissed Equity Residential’s claim against tenants for debts they supposedly owe to Equity, denied Equity Residential’s effort to get judgment against some class members, and denied Equity Residential’s motion to exclude its managers from the class.  Read the Court’s order here.